Air conditioning apparatus



Sept. 22, 1959 G. w. WOOD 2,905,454

AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 27, 1956 Room air INVENTOR GEORGE W. WOOD ATTORNEY This invention relates to air conditioningiapparatusand, more particularly to an .irnprovedcondensatedisposal system for such apparatus. 7 I f.

This invention is particularlyapplicableto small, }selfcontained air conditioning units sometimes called room coolers which are adapted to be mountedwithinawin-' dow of a residential or business building and function to cool the air within a room. These units employ mechan ical refrigerating systems which, in chilling the air, condense moisture therefrom vvhichnrnust -be.,disposed of outside the building. In many unitsin use today, the condensate, as the condensed moisture --is called, is sprayed onto the condenser coil of therefrigerating system, or thrown thereon by a slingenring attachedno the condenser fan. The heat from the refrigerant ibeing liquefied in the condenser rapidly evaporates the condensate, permitting it to be carried away in the condenser air stream. in addition to being a convenient method of disposing of the condensate, this arrangement adds capacity to the refrigerating system by providing additional cooling for the refrigerant condenser.

This invention contemplates a unique arrangement of the condensate slinger ring with respect to an air deflector for the condenser fan for efliciently lifting condensate into the condenser air stream and directing it onto the condenser.

It is the principal object of this invention to improve the operation of an air conditioning unit by providing a more eflicient system of condensate disposal.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a condensate disposal system which is capable of conveying large quantities of condensate onto the condenser of a refrigerating system.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an improved slinger ring structure for condensate disposal purposes in a room air conditioner.

A still further object of the invention is the improvement of air flow conditions through the condensing portion of a refrigerating system for room air conditioners.

These and other objects are effected by the invention as will be apparent from the following description and claim taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a room air conditioner with the top removed and showing, somewhat diagrammatically, the internal components of the unit;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through the condenser portion of the air conditioner and is taken along the line IIII of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the upper portion of the fan shown in Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing, in Fig. 1, the numeral 11 identifies the outer housing of a room air conditioner shown mounted in a window structure indicated generally by the numeral 12. The portion of the housing shown to the left in Fig. 1 is adapted to be positioned within the room and contains the air cooling element of the unit.

The housing is provided with a room air inlet 13 through which at; is drawn by a blower 14 which circulates v the airovera cooling unit or evaporator 16 and through an outlet back into the room. The arrows on the drawing indicate the air flow path.

TheIr ight-hand portion of the housing 11 containstlie 1 condensing portion .of the unit which is separated from entersan opening 18 in the housing, passes over. the

motor compressor unit 19 and is propelled by a fan .20

' over a condenser 21 and out of the housing through an outlet opening 22. The fan 20'is preferably of a propeller type, such as shown in Fig. 2, and is adapted to move air axially therethrough and directly onto the condenser 21, as indicated by the arrows in Figs. 2 and 3.

...T he room air blower 14 and the condenser air fan 20 are preferably driven by a single motor 23 disposed within.

the condensing portion of the unit. 7

The refrigerating system for the unit is a conventional compressor-condenser-expander circuit in which the motor compressor unit 19 compresses gaseous refrigerant which is condensed inlthe condenser 21 and conveyed by a capillary tube expansion device 24 to the evaporator 16.. Gaseous refrigerant from the evaporator 16 is returned" to the motor compressor unit 19 by a suction conduit 25.

. Room air passing over the evaporator 16 is chilled and moisture is condensed therefrom which falls into a trough 26 positioned beneath the evaporator 16. The conden-f sate collected in trough 26 is conveyed by a pipe 27 to sump pan 28 in the vicinity of the condenser 21. "As" shown most clearly in Fig. 2, the sump pan 28 is disposed beneath condenser 21 and extends into a region beneath the condenser fan 20. Air issuing from fan 20 is confined to the area of the condenser 21 by a shroud 29 extending down each side and across the top of the condenser 21. This shroud 29 has an opening 30 therein into which a portion of fan 20 extends. The material forming the shroud 29 is flared inward about the fan opening 30 to form a smoothly curved air deflector ring 31 defining a converging flow path for the air moved by the fan 20. The air deflector 31 preferably lies within an area coextensive with the axial extent of the fan 20.

The fan 20 carries for rotation therewith a slinger ring 32 attached to the individual fan blades by means of tabs 33. The slinger ring 32 is mounted on the fan 20 with the lowermost portion thereof extending down into the condensate sump pan 28 where it is in contact with the condensate liquid in the sump. When the fan 20 is rotated, condensate adheres to the slinger ring 32, is lifted out of the sump 28, and eventually flies off of the ring 32 and is picked up by the stream of air leaving the fan 20. With the slinger rings employed in prior art devices, no provision was made for directing the condensate into the condenser air stream. The result was that most of the condensate was thrown radially outward from the slinger ring against the shroud 29, only to fall back into the sump without contacting the condenser. Also, in these prior units, some of the condensate came in contact with the blades of the fan and was thrown outside of the shroud 29 and over other components of the unit.

This invention provides a simple, yet effective method of getting the condensate into the condenser air stream and onto the condenser.

It will be noted, particularly from Fig. 3 of the drawing, that the slinger ring 32 is provided with a cylindrical portion 34 extending upstream with respect to the air flow created by 'fan 20. This cylindrical portion 34 of the slinger ring is of slightly larger diameter than the shroud opening 30 and overlaps a portion of the air deflector 31 defining this opening. This arrangement has been found to be effective in increasing the amount of Patented Sept. 22, 1959 condensate which gets into the air stream passing over the condenser. While no positive theory has been formulated for explaining this improved performance, it is believed that the air deflector 31 removes a substantial portion -of the radial component of movement 'fromthe air being moved by the fan 20 and directs the air in a more solid stream against the condenser 21. Thus, when condensate enters the outer fringes of the air flow leaving the fan 20, this condensate is apparently carried directly to the condenser 21 rather than carried outwardly as would be the case if the air from the fan 20 were flowing radially outwardly. It also appears that the reduction in flow area defined by the converging air detector 31 produces a high speed flow of air from the exit of the deflector 31 which induces a secondary air flow on the outside surface of the deflector'31 between the slinger ring 32 and the deflector 31. This secondary air flow apparently assists in retaining condensate on the inside of the cylindrical portion 34 of the slinger ring 32, preventing this condensate from being thrown outwardly against the shroud 29, and carries this condensate into the main air stream issuing from fan'20. The high velocity of the air at the periphery of the fan 20, as induced by the deflector 31, also insures that condensate falling from above the fan 20 will be carried into the fan air stream and not fall onto the'fan blades and be thrown outside the shroud 29.

Tests of apparatus embodying this invention indicate that locations for the deflector 31 and the slinger ring '32 with respect to the fan 20 are not critical. Best performance can be expected, however, when, as mentioned previously, the deflector ring 31 surounds the fan 20 generally within the axial extent of the fan blades and the slinger ring 32 overlaps a portion of the deflector ring 31.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that this invention provides'a simple and inexpensive arrangement for improving the operation of a slinger ring condensate disposal system.

While the invention has been shown in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is suscqatihle of various changes and modifications wit hout depar ting from the spirit thereof.

What I claim is? a hemmb uaflqa Qfiaa m at o a b nt l horizontal gaxis and ,iidapted t0 propelair axially therethrough, a sump, a slinger-:ring-securedto .said fan for rotation ,therewith said ring, having a portion thereof extending 'intosaid sump," whereby said ring lifts liquid from the sump, udd-Jlingeringhaving a cylindrical portion extending upstream with respect to the air flow through said fan and terminating in a free edge spaced from said fan, and a circular air deflector defining a converging'ifiow path'for the air moved by said fan, said deflector having an exit diameter greater than the diameter of ,said fan and less than the diameter of the cylindricalportion' of said-slinger ring, said deflector being positioned within 'an area coextensive with the axial extent of said fan andjhaving the exit end thereof within the axial e'xtent of the cylindrical portion of said slinger ring.

mama m the -fileof this patent bNrrEDsTAT s PATENTS 1,905,101 Johnson Apr. 25, 1933 2,219,826 Swinburne et a1. Oct. 29, 1940 2,330,907 Odor et al Oct. 5, 1943 

